Box in a box (or eye box)

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Sat Dec 22, 2012 5:53 pm

Here is a post from way back in Dec. 2007. https://forum.shopsmith.com/viewtopic.php?p=6926&postcount=6 This post has a snapshot of the making of the box.

Wow! That is a few days over 5 years ago. Guess it wouldn't hurt to review the Box in a Box.
I glued the shaky eyes on the inner box for cuteness and too hide the center hole made by the forstner bit.

There is just two little secrets to making a Box in a Box. First, don't try this without firm clamping! Holding by hand will surely end up with hurting fingers. Second, after finding the centers of the sides of the original block, select your forstner bit and drill the depth slowly. Only drill as deep as you need to show a little light on each side of the inner block. In fact just sneak up on that depth on all 6 sides until you see that the inner block is ALMOST free. Then finish cutting the inner block free with a sharp knife.

Here is a pix of the finished project again.

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A funny note to this project - I gave it to my son for a Christmas stocking stuffer. He took it to work to share with the other engineers. They all thought it was a puzzle and tried and tried to take it apart. They also couldn't figure how it got made.

fjimp · Post by **fjimp** » Sat Dec 22, 2012 7:35 pm

Great job. I made a few of those several years ago. I enjoyed making them but nearly lost a finger in the process. Clamping and slow approach with the forstner bit is crucial. I would also add keep your hands away from the drilling process. My block was well clamped and the forstner bit grabbed an edge spinning the block out of the clamps. The 25 mile drive to the ER was a long one. Jim

pennview · Post by **pennview** » Sat Dec 22, 2012 7:53 pm

Here's a short video on the process of making the cube -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfV_APBk16Q

dgale · Post by **dgale** » Sat Dec 22, 2012 8:39 pm

pennview wrote:Here's a short video on the process of making the cube -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfV_APBk16Q

Good video, although a bit scary a few times how close he puts his fingers to that spinning bit. I'm guessing certain types of wood would lend themselves better to this project - any thoughts on what they might be? He also mentioned hearing of someone who did a cube within a cube within a cube...that would take some fancy clamping to get that inner cube to hold still while you drilled it.

BTW - Chuck, I like the way you cut off the corners on yours - it gives it a better finished look IMO.

joedw00 · Post by **joedw00** » Sat Dec 22, 2012 8:48 pm

Thanks Chuck for re-posting that, and Art for the you tube video.

dgale · Post by **dgale** » Sat Dec 22, 2012 9:19 pm

This is a good "trick" project as well, although the guy on the video need to buy himself a dado blade. Never tried it but if it really works out like it does on the video, it would result in a good head scratcher to show friends.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEATei2wewY

joedw00 · Post by **joedw00** » Sat Dec 22, 2012 10:20 pm

That is a good trick, and yes he needs a dado blade. The hole sure is not drilled straight.

dgale · Post by **dgale** » Sun Dec 23, 2012 2:50 am

joedw00 wrote:That is a good trick, and yes he needs a dado blade. The hole sure is not drilled straight.

Looks like he used a piece of pine (?) I imagine only certain woods would compress like that after being soaked and then resume their old shape after a re-soaking

burkhome · Post by **burkhome** » Sun Dec 23, 2012 7:36 am

Thirty-five years ago or so we did "sawdust days" chainsaw demos at a hardware store that I ran. One of the fun things we did was make a ball trapped inside of a cube with a chainsaw. It was a real conversation starter.

saminmn · Post by **saminmn** » Tue Dec 25, 2012 12:01 am

dgale wrote:Good video, although a bit scary a few times how close he puts his fingers to that spinning bit. I'm guessing certain types of wood would lend themselves better to this project - any thoughts on what they might be? He also mentioned hearing of someone who did a cube within a cube within a cube...that would take some fancy clamping to get that inner cube to hold still while you drilled it.

BTW - Chuck, I like the way you cut off the corners on yours - it gives it a better finished look IMO.

Just guessing, but I would have the inner one cut free before I cut the middle one free. I may not even start the middle one until I was ready to cut the inner one free.